I got this nifty little Garmin Bluetooth GPS device for Anne for Christmas this year. It comes with a built-in lithium battery that lasts about 13 hours and can be charged through a regular 12-volt socket or USB. I wanted it mainly because Anne’s rugged Tripltek tablet works great with her drone, but Navionics charts have poor GPS reception at times, and our iPad doesn’t have its own GPS.
Connecting this unit over Bluetooth gives the iPad solid location data for chart plotting or maps. It also solved the problem on my Android phone, where the built-in GPS would drop out at night and set off the anchor alarm.
Setup is simple on iOS: just pair it in Bluetooth settings, and apps like AquaMaps pick it up right away. Android takes a bit more work. You have to enable developer options, select Bluetooth GNSS as the mock location app, and connect through that helper app.
Once that’s done, it works reliably and updates faster with stronger satellite reception than the phone alone. I even hardwired a kit into the boat’s 12-volt system under the helm so it can run continuously without worrying about battery life. Now that we have the AIS transceiver with its own GPS, I don’t need this device as much, but it’s still a handy backup.
Product Links:
Garmin Glo 2
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4wEwcfn
Garmin Hardwire Kit
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4pXGyo5
